The Strong One
by brown phantom
Summary: Shampoo muses on what brought her to Ranma and if she can still bring him to her. Part Four in a Ranma monologue series.


It's late at night and I can't get to sleep. Everyone else here is, so I have to keep quiet for their sakes. With nothing else to do, I go to the kitchen, turn on one of the lights and open a book. Luckily it's written in my native language so I have no trouble reading it. Some of these Japanese ones are still tricky, but I am getting better.

My name is Xian Pu, better known as Shampoo here in the Tokyo district called Nerima. Nice place to live if you're a little mentally unbalanced. I have no intention of making this chaotic town my permanent home. As soon as I accomplish my goals, I'm heading right back to Joketsuzoku quicker than an amaguriken.

My goal is rather obvious: to acquire my airen Ranma Saotome and take him home with me to be a proper husband and wife together. Not too long ago, Airen stopped by Joketsuzoku just as I won a tournament. He and his father started to eat the feast that was my prize, so a disagreement started and Airen had there be another duel to see if they could claim the prize as their own. He won, and that's what started everything.

Of course, at the time I thought Airen was a woman, since he had just come from Jusenkyo and was in his cursed form at the time. So naturally, I thought that an outsider woman had humiliated me in front of the entire tribe. And according to the law, I had to kill her. So I gave 'her' the Kiss of Death and chased 'her' all the way to Nerima. Then I got defeated by Airen in his male form, and as the law demanded, I gave him the Kiss of Marriage. Of course, when the curse became revealed I was confused on Airen's real gender, so I went back home to find out. I ended up getting cursed myself, but that at least told me how to find out for an absolute fact just what gender Airen really was.

So then I returned to Japan and found out that Airen was undeniably a man. Thus the Kiss of Marriage was still in effect. I was pretty glad; Airen is handsome and strong and caring, even if a little crass and undefined in his approach. But any jewel can be cut right with the proper treatment, and for all his faults he's infinitely a better man than Mu Tzu. He may be a bit naive about how to show affection, but surely a teenage boy in a country that knows the value of sex appeal can't be too shy on the subject. Granted, he does have great restraint, but that only means he doesn't want to take advantage of a girl's honor.

The only real obstacle to me and Airen being together is all the other engagements his panda of a father got him into over the years. There's the Tendo family and the violent kitchen destroyer Akane Tendo, whom Airen does seem to be somewhat close to but can't possibly love. And there's the spatula-loving Ukyo Kuonji. And that's just the ones I know of. If another fiance showed up looking for my Airen, it probably wouldn't surprise me at this point.

No matter how many fiances Airen may have, it doesn't matter. Chinese law demands that he marry me, and I'm not the only one who'll be punished if he doesn't. Great grandmother Kho Lon would make sure to do something to him as payback. And even without the law, I'm still the better choice of the three of us. The kitchen destroyer is weak in battle, has an anger management problem, and her so-called 'food' should be handled by a Hazmat team. The spatula girl at least can put up a decent fight for a few minutes, but she's too boyish and she only knows how to cook that o-ko-mi-yu-ki stuff. I've never quite been able to properly pronounce that dish.

So I'm definitely the better choice. I'm a strong martial artist, which Airen must respect since he's the best one around. I'm a great chef and I can cook more than one bit of food over and over. I have a great body that all teenage boys, and maybe even a few girls too, fantasize about on numerous occasions. I'm also the best chance Airen has at getting back to China and removing his curse when the springs go back to normal. If he chooses one of the other two they'll just keep him here in Japan.

I turn the page and hear a familiar noise. It's the sound of tiny feet scratching the wooden floor, a mouse. I can't help but wonder where it is, most likely because of my own curse. I can become a cat so I'm kind of drawn to these types of things. Great grandmother says that the curse has more effects on a person than just shape-changing, and apparently for me that means a few catlike qualities. That's part of why I'm up so late, since cats are quite a bit nocturnal. I dread to think how Airen's girl curse subtly affects him. Mu Tzu was always a birdbrain so I don't worry about him, nor the panda or pig-boy.

With my attention back on the book, I get to an erotic part and blush, thinking about it being me and Airen doing those things. It shouldn't be too much longer a wait. With how things have been going since the failed wedding, I suspect Airen will make a final decision soon to end the madness. He did say a few things to us here in anger, but that was just a bad mood and he'll be nice to us again soon. Airen's not good at holding a grudge.

Normally by now Great grandmother would be pushing for me to use some kind of potion or drug to "persuade" Airen to my side. I have done that before, but I don't think I should anymore. For one thing, it never worked and surely he's on guard for that type of thing now. Also, we've pretty much already used everything we have that we can. Great grandmother has some more tricks up her sleeve, but all that's left are the type of things that could possibly get us deported or arrested. But there has to be a way to get him to see that I'm the better choice for him without having to control him.

Soon I will win the contest for Airen's heart. After all, the strong always win.

The End

AN: Before you flame me, I just want to say that these are Shampoo's thoughts and she's thinking in her native Mandarin, which is why her grammer is correct and her vocabulary is bigger. That's also why the amazon's names are in Chinese and spelled as they are.


End file.
